Farm Service Agency announces important program updates

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers that the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended the authorization of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the 2008 Farm Bill) for many Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) commodity, disaster, and conservation programs through 2013. FSA administers these programs.

Too early to say

Travel anywhere in the Sunflower State and people will tell you it's dry. It's so dry the U.S. Department of Agriculture declared last week that all but one of the 105 Kansas counties is in a drought disaster. This clears the way for farmers and ranchers to seek low-interest emergency loans.

A continuing concern

The outlook for moisture in 2013 is out there. The consensus is for more moisture but nowhere near enough to recharge subsoil moisture. However, models are predicting a pattern change that should result in a more normal weather pattern for 2014. What can area producers do to make it through the 2013 growing season?

Great Bend Farm Equipment and FFA Award Scholarship to local FFA member

Great Bend Farm Equipment today announced they are partnering with John Deere and FFA to award a college scholarship to a local FFA member. This is the inaugural year of the John Deere Dealer Scholarship Program, which is administered by The National FFA Organization. The program will award up to $250,000 in local scholarships annually.

Whack on the side of the head

There's an old saying that sometimes you need a good whack on the side of the head. Nothing could be truer today in this speeding world of instantaneous communication.

Prescribed fire workshop to be held in Trousdale

Pheasants Forever, in conjunction with the Natural Resource Conservation Service and K-State Research and Extension is hosting a prescribed fire workshop. The workshop will be held at the Trousdale Methodist Church on Tuesday, Jan. 29th. A $5 registration fee will be charged to each workshop participant. The fee will cover informational materials for each participant to take home as well as lunch.

Women Managing the Farm Conference

The 2013 Women Managing the Farm Conference is scheduled for Feb. 7-8 and will be held in Manhattan at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Just In Time

A major change in many businesses over the last twenty years was an inventory concept termed "just in time." Instead of maintaining a large inventory of parts and products, the idea was to keep just what you need and have what you are going to need ordered, shipped, and delivered just in time. The transportation and communications infrastructure developed with the advent of computers made this possible. Problems arise when something unpredictable happens; earthquakes and ...

Webinars for Ranch Advisors to focus on drought planning

A winter/spring webinar series will provide drought planning information and tools to advisors seeking to help Great Plains ranchers better prepare for and respond to drought. The webinars are scheduled from January through May 2013, on the last Wednesday of each month.

Coming Attractions

While you may think New Year's Day passing means a period of quiet in agriculture, it really signals the start of meeting season for farmers and ranchers. Private industry, producer groups, and public organizations spend this time of year educating and informing the agriculture industry on a variety of topics. K-State Research and Extension is especially active in providing knowledge on topics ranging from weed control to risk management. To that end, it may be ...

Ag programs slated for January and February

The 10th-annual Cover Your Acres Winter Conference for crop producers and consultants will be held on Jan. 15-16 at the Gateway Conference Center in Oberlin. The conference, which typically draws more than 500 attendees from Kansas and other states, highlights the latest technology, methods, and conservation practices to improve crop production on the High Plains. This year it will feature university specialists and industry representatives discussing issues such as kochia control, cropping intensity and fallow ...

Crop Plans for 2013

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, a time for looking back, making resolutions, and looking ahead. Most farmers have probably reviewed 2012 enough and are ready to look forward. As of today, no one can predict the 2013 growing season. This column certainly doesn't pretend to predict the future. However, there are certainly some actions producers can take regardless of what the growing season brings.

Next Year In Agriculture

Last week's column addressed this year's major stories in agriculture. But what's in store for 2013? Remember this is just the opinion of someone not terribly gifted in prognostication. And these items are not in any particular order.

Kansas NRCS announces National EQIP Initiatives for 2013

Eric B. Banks, State Conservationist with U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announces three National Initiatives being offered in Kansas through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP): On-Farm Energy, Organic, and Seasonal High Tunnels.

The Year In Agriculture

2012 is almost history and 2013 is just around the corner. Top Ten lists will start coming out soon. In order to beat the holiday rush, let's use this column to take a look at the top ten stories in Kansas regarding agriculture. This is just one person's opinion and I welcome any discussion and input.

University team receives $9.6 million USDA grant to help develop solutions for beef cattle grazing s

Drought, flooding, extreme heat, subzero temperatures: All of these climatic events and more in Kansas can threaten the supply and affordability of the nation's beef supply. It's hard to do much about the weather, but a team of Kansas State University scientists will be trying to find solutions so cattlemen can better adapt to any future climate extremes in their grazing operations.

Wandering about wheat

Looking at wheat throughout the central region of Kansas during the first couple days of May, members of the Wheat Quality Council (WQC) labeled the crop in fairly average to slightly above average condition.

Barton County Farm Bureau awards scholarships

Trees need care through dry weather

The question that I seem to get most often right now is why are my trees dying? Most of the time, the answer is the drought. Even though we have had some moisture recently, we are still in a severe drought. Driving around the county, you will even see old, big Red Cedars dying in the tree rows. That is because we have had two summers that were extremely hot and dry which baked the ...

Divide remains in Congress over Farm Bill, food stamps

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House and Senate Agriculture Committees laid the groundwork this week for reducing the size of the federal food stamp program, approving farm bills that would shrink food aid and alter the way people qualify for it.

Kansas CRP meetings for landowners prior to signup hosted by PF

Pheasants Forever is hosting fifty-one informational meetings across Kansas for landowners and agricultural producers in advance of the USDA Farm Service Agency's Conservation Reserve Program general sign-up that runs May 20 through June 14. Led by Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Wildlife Biologists, landowners can learn how to increase their farm or ranch income while creating wildlife habitat in the process.

Even Animal Lovers Prefer No Rabbits in the Garden

This week, I found a column from K-State's Mary Lou Peter about the rabbits that are out and about. They may be cute hopping around in a field, but when they get into your garden, their cuteness wears a little thin.

MILC, SURE, and NAP will restart on May 8

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia announced today that farm payments, which had been temporarily suspended due to sequestration, are scheduled to resume today, May 8th. This includes payments for the 2011 Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), the Noninsured Crop Assistance Program (NAP) and the Milk Income Loss Contract Program (MILC).

Why Does It Matter?

This is finals week at Barton and many of the other colleges around the state. For instructors it's time to evaluate what students learned over the last semester. For students it's time for that one last push to maintain or raise their grades. While faculty see testing as a method to evaluate learning and adjust accordingly, students often see testing as a way to be tortured. Students focus on the grade while faculty focus on ...

Play safe on the farm

The dream of many young farm boys and girls is to ride on a tractor. For a youngster, the mammoth tractor epitomizes raw power, responsibility and coming of age.